I don’t know whether this is part of their anti-Blumenthal jihad, general cluelessness, or that strange just-dropped-in-from-outerspace tone the Times likes to affect, but this piece on the Connecticut Senate race sure is strange:

Ms. McMahon’s formidable candidacy is reverberating far beyond Connecticut’s borders, forcing Democratic leaders in Washington to focus attention and perhaps money on defending a seat that had once seemed a sure bet as the party fights to retain control of the Senate.

Everyone knew McMahon would be the nominee for months. Blumenthal is way ahead in the polls. Everything I’ve read suggests that Democrats are happy to face McMahon rather than Rob Simmons.

Why the strange surprised, Dems-are-scared tone of the article? I get that McMahon has a lot of money and that may force spending on Blumenthal’s behalf, but all in all, this does not look like a competitive race.

I’m old enough to remember when Dems were scared of Sharon Angle and Rand Paul. But, I’m sure the very intelligent reporters will insist that Dems are scared of them again as soon as the First Commandment meets Aqua Buddah is no longer playing at the bijou.

Rumor has it the Colin Powell will certify in a soon to be delivered speech that Blumenthal has some aluminum tubes in his closet. Some of the sources say that they have seen his notes for the speech. They ask not to be named lest they be hit over the head with folding chairs.

Yeah and her ugly mug is looking at me in an ad on this blog. I heard a nasty new radio commercial on the way to work this morning, she didn’t waste any time. Mail pieces have been ugly too. Just goes to show everything is a cheap shot with her.

I saw that headline on the NYT and didn’t even bother. WTF do they know?

The voters of this state fucked up with Lieberman, I shudder to think of them doing it again with this broad.

There does not appear to be any recognition that in reality, Republican constituants – the people Republicans work for -are not teachers, firefighters, police, government workers (city, county, state and federal), service workers, just about anyone with a W-2 Job. Plus Latinos, Blacks, Native Americans, and Middle Class Men and Women. Essentially 90% of all Americans have been shat upon by the GOP and it’s subsidiary, the Tea Party. Therefore, it is totally logical that DEMOCRATS should be afraid in the upcoming Mid-Terms.

The NYT editorial board is unmanned (or unwomanned, as the case may be) by the possibility (however distant) that an ex-wrestling executive could become Governor of Connecticut. Need not be taken seriously.

They’re a cheap knockoff of Obama’s brand, much like many Republicans have done. The cursive is particularly atrocious. It’s a funny thing about conservatives… they suck at innovation, so when a Democrat does something successful they try to copy it without really understanding what made it successful in the first place.

Hence, the long string of Republicans trying to rip off Obama’s brand. They seem to think that it was merely good graphic design that led him to victory.

It’s more than the standard “Dems are doomed” narrative. The Times seems to have a particular, severe jones for taking out Blumenthal. They’ve maintained hope for the “lied about his service” narrative well beyond the story’s expration date. It’s almost as if someone at The Times saw Bluenthal hit on his wife or something.

The real story from last night is, Dems got pretty much everything they could have asked for. The craziest candidates won just about every GOP race — CO Sen. & Gov., CT Sen. — with GA Gov. going to a run-off. It’d be silly to say to say the climate is improving for Dems, when the all-important economy continues to sputter, but Pubs are doing everything they can to put winnable races off the table. Basically, we have two possibilities post-November: either Dems do better than predicted, or we’ve elected the highest-percentage lunatic GOP caucus of modern times.

They seem to think that it was merely good graphic design that led him to victory.

Wait… that’s not why YOU voted for him?!

Seriously, though. I can’t believe she used SNELL ROUNDHAND. One of my top five most-hated fonts EVAR. Simultaneously pretentious and played-out. If she needed to use a script, Bickham would have been a much better choice.

@joe from Lowell:
That’s pretty much how I view it. This is more of the ‘Good News For John McCain’ phenomenon. The major media bias in this country gets more naked everyday. If the Dems do at all well in the midterms it will be a slap in the face not just to the right-wing extremism, but to the MSM as well. They’ll both have bet it all and lost.

Turnout here in Colorado approached general election levels (nearly double most past primaries) and the crazies on the Republican side definitely walked away with the prize. It was a blow to the local Repub establishment, although the Repub leadership here hasn’t had much of a run lately anyway, backing folks like Coors and Schafer. I’m hoping either that Buck (senate) and Maes (governor) either have to move to the center for the general and so alienate the tea party, or that they stay where they are and alienate the independents. (Maes is the guy who thinks the bike sharing program in Denver is part of a sinister UN plot.) Interesting that it also appears to have ended the political careers of Romanoff (former D speaker of the house and Bennet’s opponent) and Josh Penry, a thoroughly dislikable guy and former House minority leader (Republican) who stepped aside from his run for governor to manage Jane Norton’s losing senate campaign. Still, the Denver Post managed to use the election as an excuse on its editorial page to once again praise the local tea party. Party of me wants to be locked in a box until after November 2 with no outside contact. Just food and wine.

The closest interpretation to reality I can come up with is that national Democrats are a little peeved that they might have to dump some extra cash into this race so that McMahon’s $50 million won’t carpet bomb Blumenthal into a squeaker loss.

I always click through on the banner ads for RWNJs and sign up people to receive more information via email. Linda McMahon has a new supporter on her email list now named Wrestlingis Gay at the email address of sweatynakedmengropingeachother@gay.com.

What other narrative works? Dems in disarray, Dems in retreat, Dems scared of all that campaign cash, ad nauseam. Thirty million? Thirty million? Hell Poizner spent that much to lost the Republican primary in California. Meg Witman will spend 200 million to lose to Jerry Brown in November.

DougJ, it’s called “perception management” and it happens every election cycle…. there will be several articles that will come out between now and November that will paint the race as close or that Blumenthol / dems are worried (a sign of weakness)… this gives the impression that they’ve got something to be worried about and is nothing more than an attempt to sway voters into rethinking who they’ll vote for…. there are more than a few people who will change their vote based on not wanting to vote for a “weak loser”…

Speaking as a CT resident, I personally agree with the NY Times. I have no idea why people should think it’s a great thing McMahon won. True, the result was never in doubt. But this past election cycle has proven two things clear:

1) McMahon has serious resources. She’s willing to spend $50 million on a state of 3 million people. Her advertising has been non stop, and yesterday she mailed a 14 page anti-Blumenthal magazine to nearly every voter in the state, independents and Democrats included. She has used her advertising to successfully make her chief weakness, the WWE, seem tame. The idea that it’s just a “soap opera” is sticking here.

2) Blumenthal can’t campaign for shit. He is banking on a late strategy. Fine, that’s probably the best way to go about this. But he has been completely out of the public eye since the Vietnam issue. While he’s clearly survived that, it made him very mortal in this election. McMahon is a fighter in the political arena – Blumenthal has so far appeared timid and aloof.

Nothing changed on Tuesday, but it was an opportune time to point out that everything’s changed.

This guy rules. It takes a response like this for a customer who is acting like a total shmuck to learn that his/her behavior is not ok. The customer is not always right. This especially applies when the customer is behaving like a jerk. I want to know who the passenger is. I want that person publicly identified.